- published: 04 Jun 2013
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Sofia (/ˈsoʊfiə/) (Bulgarian: София, Sofiya,pronounced [ˈsɔfijɐ]) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. Sofia is the 15th largest city in the European Union with population of more than 1.2 million people. The city is located at the foot of Vitosha Mountain in the western part of the country, within less than 50 kilometres (31 mi) drive from the Serbian border. Its location in the centre of the Balkan peninsula means that it is the midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, whereas the Aegean Sea is the closest to it.
Sofia has been an area of human habitation since at least 7000 BCE. Many of the major universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies of Bulgaria are concentrated in Sofia. Sofia is one of the top 10 best places for start-up business in the world, especially in IT technologies. Sofia is Europe's most affordable capital to visit as of 2013.
For the longest time the city possessed a Thracian name, derived from the tribe Serdi, who were either of Thracian,Celtic, or mixed Thracian-Celtic origin. The Serdi and the name of emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus (53 – 117 AD) prompted the Romans to give the city the combinative name of Ulpia Serdica; Ulpia is derived from an Umbrian cognate of the Latin word lupus, meaning "wolf." It seems that the first written mention of Serdica was made during his reign and the last mention was in the 19th century in a Bulgarian text (Сардакіи, Sardaki). During the Romans civitas Serdenisium was mentioned the "brightest city of the Serdi" in official inscriptions. The city was major throughout the past ever since Antiquity, when Roman emperor Constantine the Great referred to it as "my Rome", and it nearly became his capital.
Princess Sofia of Sweden, Duchess of Värmland (born Sofia Kristina Hellqvist on 6 December 1984) is the wife of Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland. Prior to her 2015 marriage, Sofia was a former glamour model and reality television contestant. As a glamour model, Hellqvist won the men's magazine Slitz's "Miss Slitz" competition in 2004 and was then cast by TV4 and participated in the reality television show Paradise Hotel in 2005.
Sofia Hellqvist was born in Danderyd, to a Swedish mother, Marie Britt Rotman, and a Danish-Swedish father, Erik Oscar Hellqvist. She was christened on 26 May 1985 in Tibble Church. She moved to Älvdalen at the age of six. She has two sisters, Sara and Lina Hellqvist.
At the age of 20, she did a photoshoot for the men's magazine Slitz in which she posed wearing only a bikini bottom and a live boa constrictor around her upper body. She was later voted Miss Slitz 2004 by readers. When the relationship between Hellqvist and Prince Carl Philip was revealed in 2010, Expressen newspaper published the photos again. Following the Miss Slitz 2004 vote, Hellqvist was cast and offered a spot on the reality show Paradise Hotel which was broadcast on TV4. Hellqvist accepted and made it to the final. During her stay at the show, she had a much-publicized feud with fellow contestant Olinda Castielle. In the end, Hellqvist got the opportunity to vote one fellow contestant off the show and decided to cast her vote on Castielle.
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), professionally known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and choreographer. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age and performed in various musical venues in his hometown throughout his childhood. He graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career. Mars produced songs for other artists, co-founding the production team The Smeezingtons.
Mars had an unsuccessful stint with Motown Records, but then signed with Atlantic in 2009. He became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals to the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, which were international successes, and for which he co-wrote the hooks. His debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), was anchored by the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade", as well as the number-five single "The Lazy Song". His second album, Unorthodox Jukebox, released in 2012, peaked at number one in the United States. The album spawned the international singles "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man" and "Treasure".